The prior art is documented with various types of automotive seals or other types of sealing systems, such as extending at the leading or forward edge of a plastic substrate associated with the vehicle cowl and a hood inner reinforcing structure. One objective of such seals and sealing systems is in the attempt to minimize or isolate engine fumes and noise from escaping through the hood.
Specific examples of seals in the prior art include such as a molded single blade to block engine compartment fumes or an extruded hollow bulb seal with internal air chamber to block engine noise (acoustic dampening). It has further been found that a molded single blade affords better sealing performance due to its ability to conform to irregular contact surfaces while assembled in mold with no secondary manual assembly operations. An extruded hollow bulb seal on the other hand affords optimum acoustic performance by providing an air filled double wall structure but has been found to not effectively confirm to complex contours associated with the cowl to hood interface and while also requiring assembly secondary to the molding process.